Dubai Economy, along with Emirates NBD, Emirates Islamic, HSBC, RAKBANK, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) and Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), has formed a consortium for sharing of verified KYC (Know Your Customer) data between banks and licensing authorities in the UAE. Part of the strategic focus of Dubai Economy on enhancing ease of business in Dubai and supporting the smart transformation of the emirate’s economy, the ‘KYC Blockchain Consortium’ will facilitate a faster, more secure onboarding and exchange of digital customer data and documents through advanced blockchain-powered distributed technologies, a first of its kind in the region. “Our strategic…

Instimatch Global, the money markets fintech network, has entered the Gulf market, partnering with a leading Qatari institution and a group of local partners to establish a joint venture. It has already secured a range of leading banks as new clients in the region. The Qatar Financial Centre, one of the world’s leading and fastest growing onshore business and financial centres, has welcomed Instimatch Global to its fintech platform. Sheikh Fahad Al-Thani, one of the local partners, said “We found Instimatch’s team and growth to date very impressive, and believe its offer will have a lot of appeal here. Our…

DIFC’s FinTech Hive revealed the launch of a new funding accelerator programme for FinTech start-ups in the MEASA region. FinTech Hive Scale Up programme benefits scaleups by helping them grow through strategic partnerships and receiving investment resources through the DIFC FinTech Hive ecosystem. Through a series of collaborations with multiple partners, the programme provides start- ups with fast access to funding, access to partner resources, support services as well as connections to investor networks. The new accelerator programme is supported by six investment partners – Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), Etisalat, DIFC FinTech Fund, Dubai Cultiv8, FALCOM Financial Services and NIcapital.…

Gulf Bank has signed up as a client of Instimatch Global, the international digital network for institutional money market lending. This marks Instimatch’s entry into the Kuwaiti market, with Gulf Bank joining over 80 leading institutions from across Europe and the MENA region on the Instimatch network. These include banks, corporate treasuries, pension funds, insurance companies, asset managers and family offices. Founded in 2017 in Switzerland, Instimatch Global is changing the way cash deposit transactions take place, by digitalising traditional voice brokerage and by moving from local to global execution. Its cloud-based network connects borrowers with lenders within the huge…

The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) announced AED 60 million of investment in the latest batch of startups and fund managers applying to its Ventures Fund. The recipients, Securrency, TruKKer, Sarwa, YACOB and Okadoc, are innovation-focused companies that are either based in Abu Dhabi or expanding into the emirate. ADIO also signed its first investment in a venture capital firm, UAE based Global Ventures. ADIO’s Ventures Fund opened in May 2019, as an initiative of the Abu Dhabi Government’s Ghadan 21 accelerator programme. The fund is supporting the growth of Abu Dhabi’s startup and venture capital ecosystem by increasing access…

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) announced the enhancement of its digital onboarding platform. In line with the DIFC’s continued emphasis on improving the ease of doing business, the new fully integrated digital platform offers a simplified onboarding process and enhanced User Experience. The streamlined digital process makes it easier for clients to establish businesses within the DIFC meanwhile improving client satisfaction, increasing operational efficiency and reducing the turnaround time to establish a new company. The new and enhanced digital onboarding platform uses cutting-edge technology solutions including OCR (optical character recognition) and digital signatures to speed up the process of onboarding…

Through careful planning and bold regulatory reforms, the Kingdom of Bahrain is poised to become a major hub for finance, technology, and innovation, according to a new report released by the Milken Institute. However, Bahrain needs to continue its efforts to overcome challenges and achieve the objectives laid out in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 strategic plan launched in 2008. The report, Bahrain and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is authored by Claude Lopez, Ph.D., Milken Institute director of research, together with research analysts Joseph Bendix and Cesar Servin. “Bahrain has developed a business-friendly environment, regulatory framework, and support system that make the Kingdom an attractive destination for…

Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced during the second Dubai Council’s meeting, that a new district under the name of ‘Dubai Future District’ dedicated to the new economy will take shape in Dubai. The Dubai Future District will see Dubai World Trade Centre, DWTC, Emirates Towers and Dubai International Financial Centre, DIFC, directly connected via a bridge, making it the Middle East’s largest district dedicated to developing the new economy. His Highness also announced the launch of an AED1 billion fund to support new economy companies…

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority “SAMA” announces the launch of a Draft Regulation governing the Provision of Payment Services in the Kingdom, inviting the public and those interested – in furtherance of the principle of transparency and participation – to express their observations and views on the Draft as of 10/05/1441 AH corresponding to 05 / 01/2020. This step comes in accordance with the SAMA’s jurisdiction to operate, monitor and supervise payments and financial settlement systems in the Kingdom, as well as its authority to issue rules, instructions and licenses in this regard, based on the Council of Ministers’ Resolution…

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the largest fintech hub in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), being home to more than 46% of all fintech companies in the region, and attracting most of fintech investments in 2019, according to the 2019 MENA Fintech Venture Report by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Magnitt. As of October 2019, the UAE accounted for nearly half (47%) of all fintech deals and more than half (69%) of fintech funding in the region that year. Four out of the five most well-funded fintech companies in MENA are based in the UAE.…

Banking platform will serve as a unique digital space for SMEs to network and share know-how. National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) PJSC is building a dedicated banking platform for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in the UAE, providing access to comprehensive financial and business services and solutions. The platform will be an exclusive digital space co-created with SMEs to understand and address their needs better. Positioned as a community platform ‘For SMEs by SMEs’, the SME banking platform will leverage NBF’s latest business solutions and skilled expertise, and will evolve into a unique space for SMEs to access banking requirements,…

Bank Muscat announced that the Central Bank of Oman has approved the bank’s request to launch a $ 100 million (RO 38.5 million) strategic Fintech investment programme. Fintech refers to innovative application of technologies and new technology-enabled business models in the financial services industry. The investment programme is part of the bank’s strategic growth initiative. The strategic Fintech investment programme will add further momentum to the transfer of technology knowhow and will help create Fintech partnerships and growth opportunities. The programme is also expected to contribute to the wider financial services industry and the economy of the country. Fintech enhances…

ENPO, one of the largest and oldest postal, financial and governmental service providers in the Middle East, has an extensive services portfolio supporting over 30 million registered as well as walk-in customers. ENPO has an extensive network of 4,000 branches as well as thousands of Points of Sale (PoS) and channels such as iPost, Post Express, Post Cars and field officers with hand-held devices. ENPO provides financial services, including current and savings accounts, instant remittances, electronic collection with notification services, which are geared towards both retail and corporate customers and are available via an in-branch teller services window. Furthermore, ENPO…

National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has set a significant benchmark in the region’s financial sector by becoming the first Bank in Bahrain and the Middle East and North Africa to launch Open Banking solutions. The Bank’s new ‘Aggregator’ service was revealed during an exclusive media gathering at Capital Club, in the presence of representatives from the National Bank of Bahrain, the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the Economic Development Board of Bahrain (EDB) and Tarabut Gateway. NBB has spearheaded the development of Open Banking technologies following the regulatory mandates set by the CBB in November 2018 which urged all banks…

TymeGlobal is proud to announce that its first Tyme-powered digital bank — TymeBank in South Africa — has opened bank accounts for 1 million customers in its first 10 months of operations, a landmark achievement placing Tyme squarely as a leader in the digital bank community globally. TymeBank is South Africa’s first digital bank, focused on bringing simple, responsible and efficient banking to South Africa’s under-served mass market. Like other digital banks, Tyme has no branches and its full banking technology stack is hosted securely in the Cloud. But Tyme offers a unique high-touch, high-tech element with its TymeKiosks that…

Bankable, the global provider of “Banking as a Service” solutions, and Visa today announced a strategic collaboration within the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region. Bankable aims to work with Visa to accelerate the digital capabilities of financial institutions’, build and launch digital banks, reduce cash usage and increase Fintech sponsorship in CEMEA. To accommodate this collaboration, Bankable is opening an office at the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), which will be Bankable’s Middle Eastern hub. Bankable’s presence in Dubai will allow the company to engage with the Dubai International Financial Centre, the leading financial centre…

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) informed that WorldFirst comes to Dubai. UK headquartered WorldFirst was acquired by Ant Financial, the financial technology arm of Alibaba Group Holding Limited in February 2019. The expansion to Dubai with a representative office in the centre will enable WorldFirst to provide currency exchange services and cross-border payment solutions for e-commerce businesses and individuals to the MEASA region through its new DIFC base. The new office will also support international money transfers in multiple currencies from across the region, creating a best practice platform for international trade and currency exchange. The MEASA base of WorldFirst…

SmartCrowd Limited, a Dubai-based company and MENA’s first financially regulated real estate investments platform (REIP) has announced that the company has fulfilled all regulatory requirements and acquired a full license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the independent regulator of financial services based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Prior to its full license, SmartCrowd was operating under an “Innovation Testing License” as part of the DFSA’s regulatory sandbox program. The new license will permit SmartCrowd to open its platform to international investors and offer international real estate investments. Founded in 2017, by Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed,…

According to reports, 5.2% of the UAE population holds some form of cryptocurrencies, indicating a growing interest among people to invest in digital assets. Encouraging Huobi, one of the largest digital assets exchange provider to expand its presence in the UAE and Middle East with its latest range of product offerings. Huobi Cloud; a one stop customised solution offers a white label digital assets exchange with access to over 450+ digital asset pairs, (Order book and liquidity from Huobi) and trading platforms (available on desktop, iOS and Android mobile app), with plans to offer addons to the cloud services in…

Citi announced the winners of the MENA Fintech Challenge. Fawry, PaySky, Octet and Wipro Limited and Traydstream.The Citi MENA Fintech Challenge offered the region’s Fintech community the opportunity to put their ideas into practice and come up with innovative solutions around four identified problem statements: Digitizing Cash Collections; Assured Payments; B2B2C Enablement; Digitizing Trade Processes. “This challenge was an important milestone for Citi. We were very impressed with the quality of the applications and proposed solutions around the problem statements. It gives me great pleasure to see the innovation and fast paced development in the Fintech space in the MENA…